Bluekit is a young blue-gray she-cat with one green eye and one blue. She's blind out of her blue eye. She's born into FernClan but with a terrible problem that haunts her. She sees shadows. Shadows that haunt her and torment her. Her own mother is nothing more than a shadow in her mismatched eyes that wants nothing to do with her. The young kitten is terrified. Can anyone help her with this problem or is she doomed to be haunted forever? What do the shadows mean? Is it a warning from StarClan? The Dark Forest? Something greater? What could it mean? Bluekit wants answers and she's determined to find out.

Bluekit lay curled up in her nest in the nursery. The young she-kit folded her ears back in annoyance as she felt a paw poke her the side. She could hear voices that were begging for her to open her eyes so they could go outside and play. Another voice followed slowly after, telling them to be quiet and that she'd open her eyes once she was ready.

A few heartbeats later, the kitten's eyes slowly opened. She let out a small squeak and shut them again tightly due to the brightness that nearly blinded her. Swallowflight leaned down and gave her and comforting lick on the head, telling her that it was alright. Slowly, the kit opened her eyes once more allowing them to adjust to the light. She saw a crowd of cats around her there were staring at her. Her pelt felt hot under their gazes as she looking around at them.

Why were they just staring at her? Was there something wrong with her? She noticed that one side was completely dark and she turned her head to see better out of her one eye. Why couldn't she see out of her other?

She turned her gaze to her mother, only to freeze up. Her kit-fur puffed out and she flinched back away from Swallowflight, who was looking down at her in concern.

“Bluekit? What's the matter?”

"I-I..." The words died in her throat before she could finish her sentence.

Concerned by all the ruckus a slightly older gray kit had briefly popped his head inside the nursery--distracted from his play--glancing from side to side at the older she-cats who stood around the blue kitten. He tilted his head slightly in confusion when he saw her, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her...looks a little scared though the young tom thought to himself. Regardless the somewhat panicked mews of the other cats were enough to get him thinking that this potentially was a serious issue.

"Echokit, what are you doing sticking your nose in there?" a familiar voice said from behind, catching him slightly off-guard. Quickly Echokit pulled his head out from the nursery entrance and started for the medicine den without bothering to answer Skymist's question. "Where are you off to now?"

"I have to go get Brightfall," he said twisting his head to the side to look back at his mother, "something's wrong with Bluekit."

The gray she-cat looked thoughtfully at the nursery and twitched her ears at the sound of murmuring voices that resonated from within, if what Echokit had said was true then she assumed it would be better that she herself go to get the medicine cat rather than have her son wander around camp; he was quite adventurous and no doubt would have no trouble at all getting there without being distracted, but she had always feared that his small adventures within camp would get him in trouble one day. Skymist rose to her paws, stepping in front of her son before he could go any further.

"You go back and play, I'll handle this," she mewed reassuringly, gently nudging the curious kit back toward the nursery before heading to the medicine den. "Brightfall? You're needed in the nursery..." she called out softly so as not to startle him if he was in the middle of something important at the moment.

The reddish-brown tom raised his head at the sound of his name. The medicine cat rose to his paws as he padded over to Skymist, casting a glance at Pinefrost as he did. "Keep sorting the herbs Pinefrost," he told his apprentice, before he turned his gaze back to the queen. The healer would have been lying if he said he wasn't a tad bit concerned. Was one of the kits alright? What about one of the queens? What of Snowsong? He knew the white-and-gray she-cat was close to kitting, but he didn't think the kits would be coming this soon. They weren't due until another moon or two at the least. "What's going on in the nursery, Skymist? Do you know?"

"From what I've heard something seems to be wrong with Bluekit," she paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder at the nursery where her son still sat outside waiting for her and Brightfall, "Echokit mainly heard everything, he became curious and decided to listen in on the commotion." Skymist admitted, slightly embarrassed that a kit knew more than her about something as serious as this, yet more worried that the young tom could have misinterpreted the situation. Nothing seemed wrong when they had stepped outside the nursery, the only issue that had appeared was Bluekit being a little late opening her eyes.

With a flick of her tail the gray she-cat turned around, leading Brightfall straight to the nursery where Echokit's intrigued gaze followed him closely as they passed. "Will she be okay?" he asked Skymist as he gave pursuit and took a seat by her side inside. She looked down at him with a calm expression, hoping it would ease any troubles in his mind, "yes she'll be fine."

Confusion clouded Brightfall's face at Skymist's words. Something was wrong with Bluekit? What could have possibly shown up? The blue-gray she-kit had been born normally with no problems as far as he or Pinefrost knew. The only thing that had been off with her that she was a bit late in opening her eyes. The medicine cat followed the queen to the nursery, flicking his tail at Echokit in greeting as he passed by the kit. His ear twitched as he picked up on the tom's question and he purred lightly.

"She'll be fine, Echokit," the reddish-brown tom reassured him as well. "No need to worry." He turned his gaze to Bluekit, bending down to look more closely at the kitten. "Can you tell me what's the matter?"

Her blue-gray fur was ruffled up as she took a small step back from the medicine cat. "Who are you?" Her tiny voice squeaked as she spoke.

Bluekit shifted slightly on her paws, ears folding back against her skull. "I... I can't see," she admitted softly. "Out of one eye."

"Can you tell me which eye?"

She pointed up at her blue eye and Brightfall frowned. His tail twitched as he sat back. "Have you done anything to poke it?"

She shook her head. "No. I just opened them and couldn't see out of it."

"It's possible you could be blind in that eye, Bluekit." At the she-kit's fearful look, he placed his tail on her small shoulder to calm her down. "It's nothing serious. There are warriors who are often wounded like this in battle and loose the sight in one of their eyes. Is there anything else?"

Bluekit swallowed as she moved closer to the medicine cat. "W-Why is there a shadow?"

Brightfall blinked. "A shadow?"

She pointed a paw at where her mother sat. "There's a shadow right there."

Having listened to the conversation Skymist and Echokit turned their heads toward Swallowflight, just as before they felt more confused than anything. They didn't see a shadow, just her mother sitting there. Maybe she can only see the shadow of her mother being cast? the gray she-cat speculated, but it didn't make very much sense to her; even though Bluekit was blind, it was only in one eye and surely she would be able to see something when staring directly at it.

Echokit hesitantly stood up and slightly padded over to Swallowflight to inspect her closely to see if there was anything the matter with her appearance, while he didn't see anything wrong with her he was still wary from what Bluekit had claimed to see; without saying anything he retreated quickly back to his mother's side.

Brightfall twitched his tail as he looked over at Swallowflight. He didn't see a shadow at all, just her mother sitting there, looking rather confused and stunned. It was never good news when a cat found out something was wrong with their kits, but Bluekit would still make a fine warrior, even with being blind in one eye. His whiskers twitched as he watched Echokit stand up and pad over to the queen to see if he could see anything that the younger kit saw, before he quickly returned to Skymist's side.

"There's nothing there but your mother, Bluekit. Can you tell me what you see when you look at her?"

"I see a shadow where she is. It's black and big and..."

"And you're not making this up? This isn't some kit-game, is it?"

"No!" There was clear fear in the kitten's voice as she spoke to the medicine cat. "It's real! Honest!"

"Swallowflight, could you step out of the den for a moment?" Brightfall questioned, looking over at the she-cat, who's fur was bristling in surprise. "I'd like to test something out."

Without a word, the queen stood up and made her way out of the nursery, mindful of Echokit and Skymist as she walked past them. Once she was outside, the reddish-brown tom looked back at Bluekit.

"Do you still see the shadow?"

She looked around the den, seeing the remaining cats that looked at her in concern. The she-kit shook her head. "No... The shadow's gone now," she answered. "I watched the shadow leave when you told Swallowflight to go too."

Could it just be her mother? Brightfall wondered. He had never heard of anything like before. "Do any of us look like shadows?"

Bluekit shook her head once more. "No."

So it is just Swallowflight. But why? Could any of the other cats be shadows to her too? And if so, what could be causing this?

Skymist thought for a minute, "if I may make a suggestion...she could grow out of it later, you know how kits can be they all have their odd little quirks about them that they outgrow." She seemed to believe this a lot more than her previous theory and it put her mind at ease from the otherwise creepy situation Bluekit was in. Echokit however didn't look convinced, he looked as if he believed her and shot occasional nervous glances at both Brightfall and her, what if Bluekit sensed that Swallowflight was a bad cat? It seemed plausible enough to him.

Despite wanting to express verbally that he truly believed in the young she-cat's vision the gray kit remained silent to listen to whatever else the two older felines wanted to say about it.

Brightfall turned his gaze to Skymist as she spoke up. The queen could be right. It could be something that Bluekit could grow out of once she grew older. All kits had little quirks about them that they outgrew. This was most likely one of those. He dipped his head to the she-cat. "You could be right," he agreed. "Still, we'll keep an eye on it just in case. Bluekit, if anything happens or it gets worse, come to me or Pinefrost, okay?"

The kit could tell there was slight disbief in his voice, but she nodded anyway. "Okay," she concurred. "I will."

"Good kit. Why don't you and Echokit run along and play? He can show you around the camp while us grown cats speak."

Bluekit cast him a look as she stood up, making her way over to the older kit. Were they going to talk more about her? Brightfall said there wasn't anything wrong with her and she'd grow out of this once she was older, but she had her doubts. Why was she like this? Why was she so different? He's so big! she thought, tail twitching nervously.

"I'm a little concerned that she might not grow out of this Brightfall," Skymist fretted, "what if it could be something that Echokit picks up?" She knew that wasn't likely but there was always the chance of it actually happening. If that were the case, whatever was bothering Bluekit could be dangerous and she felt uneasy about letting Echokit play with her now.

The gray kitten looked down at Bluekit, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at how much he had grown. "Yeah! And you're Bluekit," he said cheerfully, "you know I'm going to be an apprentice soon and I was working on my pouncing for when I start to really learn how to hunt. You wanna join? We could help each other out." Echokit stood up and stared at her with a hopeful expression, he had been an only kit and while he didn't mind it too much it got rather boring not having anyone around to play with; even pouncing on leaves had gotten quite repetitive for him.

The medicine cat couldn't understand her worries. She didn't want anything to happen to her kit, as any mother would. Even so, he didn't think it was right for her to deny the two kits playmates with each other. Echokit and Bluekit were the only two kits currently until Snowsong had her own within a few days. All kits needed a friend or two. "I'm sure she will. This doesn't seem like anything that other cats can get Skymist. Bluekit's the first cat to ever have something like this. I understand your concern for Echokit, but he'll be fine. If anything strange starts happening, bring him to me."

"You're going to be an apprentice soon? Can I be one too?" Bluekit's mismatched eyes lit up in joy at the thought of becoming an apprentice soon with her new friend. "Yeah, that sounds like fun! C'mon!"

Without waiting for a reply, the smaller kit raced out of the nursey with a playful purr ringing from her throat. She kept her eyes away from Swallowflight as he mother made her way back inside the den once Brightfall called her back inside. She felt a stab of pity for acting that way to her mother, but she didn't want to look at the shadow cat.

"Are you sure? We don't know what this is..." her words trailed off as Swallowflight made her way back into the nursery, she felt bad for worrying about Bluekit being a potential threat to her own kit and didn't want her mother to hear her in case it would upset her.

Purring in amusement Echomist raced after her quickly, he skidded to a halt in front of Bluekit and puffed out his chest. "You shall be an apprentice," he began to mimic the roll of a clan leader, "Bluekit, you will hereby be known as Bluepaw and I will be your mentor." The young tom declared proudly, his false maturity soon fading as he bounced lightly around Bluekit cheering her soon-to-be apprentice name. He stopped for a moment and sighed wistfully, "it would be nice if you and I really did become apprentices at the same time. We could train together all the time."

"I know," Brightfall muttered to her as Swallowflight make her way back in. "But it'll be fine. StarClan will see to that. Have faith in them, Skymist." The reddish-brown medicine cat glanced over at the other queen as she sat down beside him, clearly wanting information on her kit. "Bluekit seems to be fine--"

"Fine?! You call her being blind and claiming to see weird shadows fine?!"

The FernClan medicine cat was taken aback by Swallowflight's sudden outburst. "Calm down," he meowed gently. "Bluekit is like any other kit. Yes, I understand that she has a few things different about her, but she'll grow out of them when she's older."

"But what if she doesn't?" There was challenge in the she-cat's voice as she spoke, glaring at the healer. "What if she' like this forever?"

"Then it's something you'll have to learn to accept."

"No." Swallowfight narrowed her eyes with a growl. "I can't accept this. There must be something you can do!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bluekit pouted, skidding to a stop once Echokit raced in front of her to avoid crashing into him. The kitten purred as she got her apprentice name by her Clan leader as he bounced around her, cheering her false name. "Who says we can't? You and I will be apprentices at the same time and we can train together all day!"

Skymist flinched at the sharpness of the other queen's tone, "calm down Swallowflight maybe there's nothing he can do at the moment..." she said timidly not wanting the angry feline to shout at her but also feeling that it was a bit unfair that she was demanding treatment for something Brightfall didn't even know about or understand. This made her feel worse for thinking that Bluekit was dangerous to other kits.

"You have to be patient with her at least, she is just a kit and most likely it's just some silly delusion that will fade with time." She managed to say that louder than her first statement, hoping that would give the distressed mother some sort of reassurance that things would be fine with her kit soon.

The older kit stared down at his friend with a sorrowful expression, oh how he wished that would be true but she would still be a kit by the time he was made an apprentice and he would have to train alone without her. What made it more heartbreaking for the tom was the fact he wouldn't have any friends by that time, but yet he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind; he could at least enjoy the time he had with her now.

"Maybe we could ask if we could be apprentices at the same time," he joked.

That seemed to work, but only slightly. Swallowflight's black-and-white fur began to lay flat along her shoulders and spine. Skymist had a point. Maybe this was something that Brightfall couldn't fix at the moment. This was something new to them all. It would take the medicine cat time. Time that the queen didn't want to wait for. She wanted her kit better now. Her tail lashed behind her.

"Until you do something about this, that kit is no kit of mine."

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The younger kit beamed at him, clearly missing the joke her friend told her. She bounced lightly on her paws with a cheerful grin on her face as she hopped around the larger tom like a frog. "Yeah!" she agreed. "That would be really great!"

In turn the gray she-cat frowned at her words, even if Bluekit was different she was still her kit and she figured that she would be more accepting something that couldn't be changed so easily. "She needs you to survive though, what's she gonna do if you decide to reject her. She could end up like Tigerpaw," Skymist's voice grew firm, she might be concerned about the young kit being a threat but this was completely unfair for her.

"She'll change with time, so why are you just going to not bother with her when it's clear that Brightfall can't do anything?" she could feel the anger swelling up within her chest, and many more words forming on the tip of her tongue but she bit them back before she could spit them out cruelly and start a fight.

Echokit smiled cheerfully, "then I suppose we will ask Willowstar one day," he didn't think she would agree but he saw no point in squandering his friend's hopes when she appeared to be overjoyed at the thought. Maybe she will make an exception, he mused and secretly hoped that would be the case.

"That's his own fault and Bluekit's too," the black-and-white she-cat hissed. "If she dies, then so be it. It shows that StarClan doesn't want her then."

Brightfall felt a pang of pity for the newly born kit. How Swallowflight was acting wasn't fair to her daughter. Bluekit didn't ask to be born different. It wasn't her fault. Her mother shouldn't be treating her like an outcast when she had done nothing to deserve it. "I'll see if there's anything else I can do," the tom promised. "I don't think it's wise for you to do this to Bluekit. She didn't ask--"

"I don't care if she did or she didn't," the angry feline cut him off sharply like claws ranking his pelt. "I want nothing to do with her until she's better."

"There's nothing wrong with her," the reddish-brown cat insisted more firmly. "She might have sight problems that could be causing why she sees shadows, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with her."

Swallowflight drew her lips back to show her teeth. "Yes, it does," she hissed. Before anything else could be said, she turned and padded out of the nursery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blue-gray she-kit purred. "I hope Willowstar will say yes! She's got to, right? She wouldn't separate us like that." She didn't know if that was true or not, but she hoped it was. Bluekit's ear twitched as she heard pawsteps coming out of the den behind them. She glanced over to see her mother storm out of the den without even so much as looking at the two kits as she went passed them. What had gotten her so angry? Was it something to do with her?

Skymist's fur bristled at the queen's harsh words, "I can't believe that mouse-brain..." she grumbled as she watched Swallowflight trudge outside of the nursery.

"What's going to happen to Bluekit?" the upset she-cat said out loud without really meaning to. Silently she contemplated the thought of offering to take care of her but she wasn't sure if that would be possible, soon enough Echokit would become an apprentice leaving her to return to her warrior duties. Frustrated Skymist let out an angry sigh and looked over at Brightfall for suggestions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Swallowflight seems angry..." Echokit mused, watching her as she passed and all at once forgetting about he and Bluekit's plan to make her an apprentice almost immediately. He took a pawstep forward, tempted to catch up to her and ask if anything was the matter.

The medicine cat flicked his tail in frustration. He watched Swallowflight storm out of the den and shook his head. She just needed time to calm down, was what he told himself. Hearing that there was something wrong with her kit was going to make her angry, and Brightfall prayed to StarClan she didn't mean what she had said. If she didn't take care of Bluekit, then she was going to die.

The reddish-brown tom sighed, sitting back on the ground. Snowsong had sat up, having witnessed all of what had just happened. It was clear the white she-cat wasn't pleased about choice as well. If her narrowed eyes as she watched the black-and-white she-cat leave and bristling fur was any more of a clear sign.

"Swallowflight just needs time. This is hard on her, hearing that there's something wrong with her kit. If she is serious, you or Snowsong will have to take care of her," he replied, looking at the remaining queens in the nursery. "If you don't, she's not going to survive."

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Bluekit folded her ears back as she watched the shadowy form of her mother trudge off out of FernClan's camp. She didn't know why the darkened cat was so upset. Was it because of her? Had she done something wrong? The smaller kit gazed after the shadowy form of the cat she called mother, she felt as though claws were digging into her pelt with sadness. She had a sinking feeling Swallowfight was mad because of her.

She sighed heavily at the tom's words; it would be a tough decision to make, StarClan knows how many kits Snowsong would be having and Echokit will be made an apprentice any day now. Any bad thoughts that she had about Bluekit had been forgotten, she was different and it scared her still but right now she needed help from someone.

"I'll take care of her if Snowsong feels she might be overwhelmed with her own kits when they come," she decided finally. While Skymist would have liked to take on the responsibility fully she wasn't so sure if Snowsong would want to take on the extra kit or not, and even if she did take on the task she would at least be happy knowing Bluekit was safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the end, the gray tom decided it would be best not to disturb the she-cat at this point in time, if something was indeed wrong he didn't want to put any pressure on her by asking her a bunch of questions because he was nosey. Echokit turned around quickly wanting to go back to playing with his newfound friend, sadly his heart sank from looking at the sad expression on her face.

"Bluekit? Are you okay?" he asked, moving closer to her in case she needed comfort.

Snowsong dipped her head to Skymist as she looked down at her swollen belly. It wouldn't be long before her kits would be due. Brightfall had guessed she'd have at two maybe three kits. Given how often they kicked inside of her, there was no surprise in the white she-cat's mind that was more than likely the case.

She didn't want to bother the other she-cat with taking Bluekit. Echokit would soon be an apprentice and she knew that the other queen would want to get back to her warrior duties as soon as she could. Yet, she also knew that a mother wasn't one to simply let a kit die. The warrior code said that all kits needed to be taken care of, no matter what. They were the future of the Clans after all.

"I'll be willing to take care of Bluekit once my kits are born," Snowsong meowed at last. "I'm sure I'll have enough milk to feed her and my little ones. Until then, do you think you could take care of her?"

"Her kits will be due any day now," Brightfall piped in after the she-cat had finished. "But the choice is up to you, Skymist."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The smaller kit was snapped out of her thoughts when Echokit spoke. She blinked a few times as she looked up at him as he made his way over to her. She could tell by the look on the tom-kit's face that he was worried about her. She found herself pressing up against the elder kitten, happy for his company. Her ears still were flat against her skull and her tail hung low to the ground.

"Why does the shadow cat hate me?" Bluekit whispered, her green and blue eyes looking up at her friend with sadness and confusion clouding them, making them almost dull compared to their normal sparkling emerald and sapphire. "Did I do something to make it mad?"

"That's fine with me, I'll take care of them until Snowsong's kits are born and then she can take over," she said feeling relieved that the pregnant she-cat felt like she would be able to handle her kits as well as her soon to be adopted one. Part of her couldn't help but wonder how Swallowflight would react to this, but she had the creeping feeling that she had already decided she wanted nothing to do with her daughter.

Snapping out of her thoughts Skymist looked over to Brightfall, "when should we let Bluekit know?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I..." he thought for a moment, staring down at the small kit; her giving him that look made his heart ache and he desperately wished he could give her an answer to her question but not even he himself could answer that. There was no telling if her mother really hated her, but if she did and he knew he still couldn't begin to imagine what it was that she had done so wrong.

"I'm pretty sure Swallowflight is just angry about something one of the other cats said to her, you didn't do anything wrong," he finally said, gathering his thoughts and allowing himself to even believe that falsehood himself. Echokit gave her a reassuring nuzzle, "try not to let it worry you, okay?"

"The sooner the better," the medicine cat replied. He glanced out towards the clearing. "But let's wait until she comes back into the den. Let's give her and Echokit some time to themselves. Bluekit needs to meet her Clanmates."

"Do you think it's only her mother that appears like a shadow to her?" Snowsong piped up after a moment, ear twitching curiously. "Or could other cats in the Clan appear like that to her?"

"It's..." Brightfall paused, tail twitching as he thought over what the white she-cat had brought up. Could other cats in FernClan be nothing more than shadows to Bluekit? If that was the case, why? Why only some cats and not everyone? "It's too early to say for sure. We'll ask her when she comes back in the den."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blue-gray she-kit pressed herself up against Echokit as the elder kitten tried to reassure her that everything was okay. She was glad for the tom-kit's comfort and friendship, despite not knowing him for that long. He was one of the first cats to be nice to her and to care. He was nice and caring. A true friend in her eye.

A small purr rose in her throat as she nuzzled her new friend, deciding to go with what he had said. Swallowflight was most likely upset with what some cat had told her and it was nothing to do with her. She felt a little better by the news and perked back up more to how she acted a few moments ago.

"Okay," Bluekit squeaked out, looking up at her friend with a smile. "What should we do now, Echokit?"

Echokit thought for a moment, they had already played enough and he wanted to take her mind off of the way she viewed her mother. He looked around, getting an idea of what the two kits should do now.

"How about I show you around the camp?" he looked down at her, hoping for Bluekit to say yes. In all honesty, he more or less just wanted to do a bit of exploring, and the only way to do that was inside the camp but he couldn't wait to go outside and finally see everything else.